Tag: featured

Ramside Spa Offer Healthy (And Luxurious) Start To 2016

By on 6th January 2016in Local Biz

The North East’s most luxurious spa has seen 2016 get off to a healthy start – with a huge boost to memberships…

The Spa at Ramside, which opened last summer, has seen a rush of people signing up to use the facilities, which include five pools, a state-of-the-art gym, thermal suite and sleep sanctuary.

A new studio timetable offering around 40 classes, which include aerial yoga, Salsa, Clubbercise, pilates and spin, has also enticed people from around the region to take advantage of membership offers, which give unlimited access to the facilities at Ramside Hall Hotel near Durham.

“At this time of year, when people are getting over the excesses of the festive season, you would expect to see membership numbers rise,” said Anthony Woodhouse, General Manager of Spa and Leisure at Ramside.

“But we have been overwhelmed by the interest in what Ramside has to offer, with people loving not only the facilities, but the huge programme of classes we are offering.”

To celebrate 2016, the spa has also put together ‘Rock That Resolution’, to help people keep their promises of making time to train, finding time to spend with loved ones, or time for themselves.

Three resolution choices have been created with personal training sessions, shared spa experiences, or a day spa for one.

Information on all the spa days and memberships is available at www.ramsidespa.co.uk or calling the Spa at Ramside on 0191 375 3088.

Durham Council Offers Assistance As Flooding Continues

By on 6th January 2016in In & Around

Durham County Council is continuing to help communities across the county to tackle the impact of the continued rainfall…

 

Many areas are being affected by low-level localised flooding, and teams from Durham County Council have been out and about continuously dealing with various issues.

This includes responding to numerous reports of flooding on highways by clearing blocked gullies, pumping out water and providing sandbags where needed. There have been about 150 requests for sandbags countywide.

The council sent staff to Lanchester, which was one of the worst hit areas of the county.

The pre-planned emergency response saw council officers working with members of the Lanchester Flood Action Group to distribute sandbags and local farmers who pumped water from a beck from Front Street.

Cllr Brian Stephens, Durham County Council’s Cabinet member for neighbourhoods and local partnerships, said: “Our staff continue to work hard to respond to some very challenging conditions throughout the county.

“I am aware that the previous work we had done with the community in Lanchester in preparation for flooding was put into practice well, enabling local people to respond effectively themselves.”

A Met Office amber warning of rain remains in force until midnight, so residents are advised to be prepared for further problems with surface water flooding on roads and railways, as well as possible flooding to homes and businesses.

For the latest information on road closures due to severe weather, click here, and for all the latest school closures, click here.

Virgin Trains Offer 200,000 Cheap Rail Tickets

By on 5th January 2016in In & Around

If you’ve spent too much time soothing feuds between family members over the holidays, it might be time to bag yourself a bargain escape route…

A total of 200,000 cheap tickets are up for grabs from Virgin Trains along their east coast route from London to Edinburgh. At £5 for a single ticket between London and Leeds, £10 between London to Newcastle and £15 between London and Edinburgh, the bargains are eye-wateringly tempting.

Those needing that extra bit of nurturing after dealing with particularly irritating relatives should be able to justify upgrading to First Class. At just £40 for a First Class ticket all the way from London to Edinburgh, their deal will include the full package – including complimentary food and drink, free Wi-Fi and more spacious and comfortable seats.

George Shuttlewood, Head of Marketing for Virgin Trains on the east coast, said:

“All those who’ve spent the last two weeks with seriously annoying relatives have our deepest sympathy. We’re delighted to be able to offer a sharp exit with our super-cheap tickets.

“This is an excellent opportunity to save big on travel between Edinburgh and London, and many of our destinations in between. And with 200,000 seats available over the travel period, there’s plenty of choice.

“London is always our most popular destination, but with prices so low it’s the perfect opportunity to try somewhere new.”

The bargain seats are on sale from today until Friday 8th January, and only through this web page. All tickets are for travel from 5th January to 23rd March 2016.

All offers are subject to availability. As well as seriously beguiling bargains for off-peak week-day travel, some peak-time tickets are up for grabs as well as more limited (due to engineering works) but equally tempting deals for weekend travel.

Because the prices are already so low, no other offers or discounts can be used, including Railcard or child reductions. Once booked, no changes, refunds or break of journey can be made.

Sincerely, The Editor: Our Top Stories 2015

By on 4th January 2016in Have Your Say

2015 was a big year for In & Around Online, and here’s why…

 

With the arrival of the New Year, now seems as good a time as any to take a look back over 2015.

We launched In & Around Online on 14th October, and we’ve already reached a massive audience of over 27,000 people. So what’s all the fuss about?

Here’s our 10 Top Stories of 2015:

Save The DLI Museum: So That His Name Be Not Forgotten
With the battle to keep the Durham Light Infantry Museum open still ongoing, Deryck Collins tells the story of his own connection to the men of the DLI.

Rent A Cop Episode Seven: Twitter Turns On Francis
The North East’s claim to fame in 2015 was the BBC Three series ‘Rent A Cop’, featuring Darlington superhero Francis Jones. Feelings towards the show were mixed, to say the least.

Win! Tickets To See T.Rextasy’s 40th Anniversary Tour
Our most popular competition was to win tickets to see the only officially endorsed T.Rex tribute band in the world. Haven’t entered? Entries are still open!

Help To Find This Missing Person: Graham McInness
When Stockton man Graham went missing in November, Andy Knowles called for help via In & Around. The message was spread by nearly 2,000 people, and he was found shortly after.

Gogglebox and X Factor Stars Heading To Metrocentre For Christmas
To get us in the Christmas spirit, TV stars lit up the Metrocentre to kick off the festive season. Thousands attended the event.

Sweet Tooth Delivery Enjoys The Sweet Taste Of Success
Young North East entrepreneur Kayley Smith took her cake business to new heights in 2015, with a strong of high profile awards and successes.

Durham Police Looking For Restorative Justice Volunteers
With the launch of the Durham Police restorative justice programme, Police and Crime Commissioner Ron Hogg called for local support to bring closure to victims of crime.

8 North East Fireworks Displays To Visit This Year
With bonfire night set to go off with bang, we recommended the best fireworks displays the North East had to offer. Which did you attend?

Sunderland Student’s Design Goes Into Production For SAFC Ladies
One Sunderland youngster was proud to see her own design turned into a special promotional cup, courtesy of the SAFC Ladies team.

Review: Legally Blonde At Tyne Theatre & Opera House
West End Musical Theatre Company took to the stage in their musical production of Legally Blonde, and have big plans for 2016.

Here at In & Around, we couldn’t have asked for better support during our first few months. We may have only caught the tail end of 2015, but it was a fantastic year nonetheless, and we’re looking forward to an even better 2016.

We’ve got a lot lined up for this year, and we’re keen to continue turning In & Around into a platform for the North East to be heard. Don’t forget that you can send your thoughts, stories and news to us, and well publish them to a massive (and growing) audience. All contributions are welcome.

Thanks once again for all of your support, and we wish you a fantastic year.

Sincerely,
Alex Porritt
The Editor

£5m Investment Helps Warm North East Homes

By on 2nd January 2016in In & Around

Thousands of homes across the North East are enjoying warmer homes thanks to ‘Warm Up North’, a landmark initiative being delivered by British Gas in partnership with nine local authorities…

Warm Up North has delivered £4.9m worth of energy saving measures across 3,690 homes since its launch in 2013.

Warm Up North tackles fuel poverty in the North East by helping to lower energy bills, and make it more affordable for residents to keep warm.

Local residents can benefit from a range of energy efficiency measures, including free A-rated gas boilers, subject to eligibility and survey, as well as cavity wall and loft insulation.

In addition to the cost and energy savings for residents, the programme has created annual carbon savings of nearly 15,000 (14,961.61) tonnes of carbon. To put this into perspective, one tonne of CO2 weighs as much as 10 baby elephants!

Although thousands of residents have already benefitted from new gas boilers and insulation, Warm Up North is urging residents in the North East who haven’t taken part in the scheme to get in touch to find out if they are eligible for help.

Graeme Stephenson, lead partnership development manager at Warm Up North, said: “Warm Up North has helped thousands of households, including homes in Northumberland, Newcastle, Sunderland and Durham, to become more energy efficient.

“As the weather gets increasingly cold, many local residents will be thinking about the costs of heating their homes, and I’d urge them to give us a call to find out if they could join the thousands of people who are already benefitting from our Warm Up North programme.”

For more information about this range of energy efficiency measures, including free A-rated gas boilers for eligible residents with an inefficient boiler, subject to eligibility and survey, and cavity wall and loft insulation, contact Warm Up North on 0800 316 4320 for the gas boiler offer, or 0800 294 8073 for all other energy efficiency measures. Alternatively, visit www.warmupnorth.com.

County Durham Wine Business Records £77m Turnover

By on 1st January 2016in Local Biz

2015 has been a very good year for one County Durham company…

One of the UK’s leading wine bottlers and distributors, the Lanchester group of companies, has recorded an annual turnover of £77m, an increase of 20% from 2014’s £64m turnover, with a net profit of just over £5m, placing the business on track to reach its target of near £100m turnover in 2016.

Five businesses make up the Lanchester group of companies, spanning different areas of expertise within the UK wine sector and its supporting industries – Lanchester Wines, Greencroft Bottling Limited, Lanchester Gifts, Lanchester Energy and Lanchester Properties. Lanchester Wines incorporates Lanchester Wine Cellars, the group’s wine importers, shippers and bonded warehouse keepers division, and Lanchester Wine Sales, the group’s wholesale of wine, beer, spirits and other alcoholic drinks to major customers.

The latest accounts for the year, ended June 30th, show Greencroft Bottling alone grow turnover by 25% to over £40m, while over the last three years, £8m has been re-invested back into the company’s renewable energy initiatives through Lanchester Energy.

Each business within the Lanchester portfolio compliments the other businesses to provide a vineyard-to-table wine service. Lanchester Energy, nominated as the flagship company for the Government’s Energy Saving Opportunity Scheme (ESOS), provides renewable energy to power Lanchester’s properties, while Lanchester Gifts provides an additional route to market for Lanchester’s wine products.

Tony Cleary, managing director of the Lanchester group of companies, said: “We understand business doesn’t stand still, and so we’ve invested heavily in leading edge technology over the last twelve months to ensure we are the most modern business of our kind in Europe, while maintaining our exceptional high quality of service.

“Two new bottling lines at our County Durham site mean we now have eight production lines, consisting of five large and one medium bottle lines, enabling us to fill a range of size bottles including  PET, and both TetraPak and bag-in-box lines. These lines, along with new state-of-the-art packing and labelling machines, mean we can produce upwards of 90,000 bottles of wine and spirits per hour, while maintaining our 100% quality finished product record.

“We’ve also invested in additional bonded warehouse space, which will give Lanchester a total of 920,000 sq. ft. of Class A bonded space and bonded storage, while we have plans to build a new 250,000 sq. ft. bottling facility.”

Lanchester Wine Cellars was established in 1980, and since then the Lanchester group of companies has expanded. It has invested £8m into sustainable initiatives, the most significant being three 50 metre tall wind turbines at Lanchester’s County Durham headquarters which, combined, generate close to 6 million kW hours of renewable energy per year for the business. This is more energy than the business consumes which, combined with further investment in solar panels and electric fleet vehicles, makes it Carbon Minus and the greenest liquor company in the world.

Tony added: “Lanchester is a legacy business, deeply embedded with sustainable activities and investment therein. We invest heavily in our business, growing it to the next stage and investing in smart, passionate people who love what they do.”

The company, which employs 385 people in North East England, has a record low of permanent staff turnover, and a high number of long standing employees thanks to its profit sharing incentives. Tony added: “The success of each of the Lanchester businesses is down to the individuals within it who strive for perfection each day. We have an outstanding team and I look forward to celebrating our success with them all.”

For more information on the Lanchester group of companies, visit www.LanchesterGroup.com.

#ThrowbackThursday: Icebreakers Of The Tyne

By on 31st December 2015in Lifestyle

The Tyne & Wear Flickr Archive provides a unique view into Newcastle’s shipbuilding past…

 

 

Although the days of the Tyne being crammed with ships may be long gone, the proud memories of North East shipyards are still as strong as ever.

The region’s marine heritage dates as far back as 1294, when a galley was built in Newcastle for the King’s fleet. By 1346, ships were being built in Sunderland, and then in Stockton a little over a century later. From then, it remained a key industry in the area until the late 20th century.

So of all of the thousands built, where were these ships going to? As documented in this Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums Flicker album, some were destined for the far reaches of Russia.

 

The SS Baikal (pictured above) and the Ermack were both built by W G Amrstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd in the 1890s, in their Low Walker yard. These were sent east for ice-breaking duties across frozen waters.

Click through the gallery below to see the fantastic images of both ships in action.

 

Included in the gallery is a photograph of the workforce which reassembled the SS Baikal upon its arrival at Lake Baikal. As the caption reads:

“They were mainly exiles and criminals. They also included Isaac O’Henry, the Chief Engineer, who often told a tale of a long walk in the tundra alone with a guide who later turned out to have murdered his entire family with an axe.”

To see more of Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums photographs, click here.

To see more local #ThrowbackThursdays, click here.

Do you have shipbuilding memories or photographs of your own to share? Leave a comment below, or email online@inandaroundmag.co.uk!

County Durham Gets Fit For Free In 2016

By on 30th December 2015in Lifestyle

Friends could win the chance to improve their fitness for free as part of a three month effort urging more people to exercise this New Year…

 

Durham County Council is committed to improving the health of families, and is introducing new offers across its 10 managed leisure centres.

To celebrate, the authority is seeking one individual or two friends to take up the challenge and try out the centre of their choice for three months, with their progress tracked to inspire others to follow in their footsteps.

Further encouragement will come in the form of free exercise classes, open to all members of the public, from Monday 4th January to Friday 15th January.

The sessions – which will include new Body Combat classes – will give visitors a chance to try out new things, and learn techniques and routines.

Then, on the weekend of 16th and 17th January, all 10 centres will be hosting a free workout weekend, with open access to gyms, swimming pools and classes.

That will include Spennymoor Leisure Centre, which on 20th December will see its pool re-open following essential maintenance and improvements to its changing rooms.

If visitors choose to join as swimming or gym members during the free weekend, they will receive their first month’s membership for free.

To be in with a chance of getting fit with a friend for free, email your details to sportandleisure@durham.gov.uk by Friday 8 January 2016.

Full terms & conditions are available on the Durham County Council website at www.durham.gov.uk/leisurecentres.

Council Provides Essential Winter Weather Tips

By on 29th December 2015in In & Around

Following the continued wintry weather, people in County Durham are being urged to stay warm, well and safe…

 

Durham County Council is reminding everyone that online resources are available at www.durham.gov.uk/warmandwell to ensure that no one is left out in the cold this winter.

As well as advice on staying healthy and looking after elderly or vulnerable neighbours, there’s also information on coping with the snow and ice. This includes everything from finding out the location of your nearest salt bin, to tips for driving in wintry conditions.

There’s also guidance on how to make sure your home is warm and energy efficient, including information about the Government’s Warm Homes Discount Scheme, whereby energy companies must offer extra help to their most vulnerable customers, with a possible one-off rebate of £140 on energy bills to those who qualify.

Cllr Eddie Tomlinson, Durham County Council’s cabinet member for assets, strategic housing and rural issues said: “With the winter weather well and truly underway, we’d like to remind everyone that a range of advice and information is available on our website to keep people warm, well and safe.”

7 Big Mistakes Businesses Make Online

By on 29th December 2015in Local Biz

Chester-le-Street based Design & Marketing Agency Jak Inc share their insight into making the most of your online presence…

 

As veteran website designers and experts in mobile optimisation, we often get to see behind the scenes of some of the best and worst web presences.

In doing so, we’ve identified five of the biggest mistakes that businesses are making online. Read on to find out what they are…

1. Websites aren’t mobile-friendly.

Let’s start with a biggie. On average in the UK, we each spend nearly two hours per day browsing the internet on our mobile devices, and in the last few years, mobile shopping has surpassed desktop shopping.

The trouble is, users are still being turned away by sites that aren’t optimised for mobile screens. If a site isn’t intuitive to use on the devices that are now becoming the standard, potential customers are inclined to go elsewhere.

Mobile-optimisation isn’t an option or a recommendation anymore. It’s a necessity.

Plus, Google has recently begun penalising non-mobile-friendly websites by moving them further down in search results. It’s a big price to pay for failing to keep up with digital trends.

2. Web and social media is rarely updated.

The internet is a fast-paced environment, and users are always hungry for new content.

The really successful web presences are the ones that are never short of an update or two, and the ones that are well-practiced in delivering fresh, exciting, entertaining, and original content. As you’d expect, it keeps audiences coming back for more.

Unfortunately, however, keeping content moving is a time-consuming process, and is difficult to keep consistent. If you haven’t already lost your audience thanks to your non-mobile-friendly site, chances are your lack of updates will do it, so make sure you set aside some amount of time every day to update your presence.

3. Imagery isn’t utilised where necessary.

They say a picture can say a thousand words, and the phrase has never been truer than in the context of the internet and social media.

These days, users have neither the time nor inclination to read more than they have to. The web is endlessly scrollable, and nothing can make a viewer click the ‘next’ button faster than a wall of text. Images, however, are far more effective at grabbing attention and communicating a message.

Don’t take your audience’s attention for granted.

A great place to utilise imagery is Twitter. Thanks to the platform’s 140 character limit, a well-chosen photograph or graphic can help get across a message that wouldn’t otherwise have fit!

4. Websites aren’t user-friendly.

When somebody visits your website, there are usually only a handful of things they’re really looking for. In most cases, they want to know who you are, what you do, and how they can obtain your services.

This is the information that should be immediately available to your visitors, and not buried behind a slew of pages and hyperlinks. If it takes more than five to ten seconds to have their questions answered, you may have lost their interest for good.

Assess exactly what your own visitor’s objectives will be, and ensure you meet them. Check out our guide to a great homepage for more tips.

5. Call-to-actions are vague or non-existent.

Let’s assume that you’ve successfully lured visitors to your website or social media pages. Now what? What exactly do you want them to do?

Your call-to-action will depend on your business, but it could be that you want visitors to book an appointment, buy a product, or download something. Too often, visitors have no immediate indication of how to do any of that.

Let’s say you want visitors to fill in an appointment form. That form needs to take centre-stage on your website homepage, right next to a brief explanation of who you are, and why anyone should fill in this form.

6. Download speeds are unnecessarily slow.

This one is a classic.

Designing your first/new website can be exciting, and there’s often the urge to fill it with as many fancy images, videos, and widgets as possible. All of those things are great, but are they really worth slowing your website down?

Simplicity is often key with website design. Implement what you need to implement. Slow loading times caused by extra content can very quickly put a visitor off returning.

7. Stuck in the past.

If you’ve made it this far into this article, chances are that this one doesn’t apply to you, or that it doesn’t apply to you anymore. By now, you’re already considering whether or not your own website is ticking the right boxes, and wondering how you can use our advice to improve it.

But despite the now considerable age of the internet, there are still a lot of business owners out there who write it off as a luxury. The truth is, however, that an online presence is now critical to success, and ignoring that fact can be a big mistake.

If you aren’t already doing so, keep on top of the ever-changing digital landscape. It’s a business owner’s best friend.

Not sure how to avoid these mistakes? Want to find out exactly how to best utilise your digital presence?

At Jak Inc, we’re putting the #DigitalRevolution into motion. Book a consultation to find out how you can become a part of it, and how we can reinvigorate your online marketing.

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